


Where You Need To Be

by PrussianHufflepuff



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Everyone else has their normal age, Gen, Keith is 5, My First Fanfic, Or not, Pidge | Katie Holt is So Done, Really cool cars i guess, Rover is a car, Shiro is 20 - Freeform, So love and kisses pls, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), Starvation, This isnt well made, good luck i guess, i dont really care
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-31 18:41:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15125555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrussianHufflepuff/pseuds/PrussianHufflepuff
Summary: Shiro knew trying out that self driving car was a horrible idea. Matt thought of it, and all of Matt's ideas were terrible.





	Where You Need To Be

Shiro knew trying out that self driving car was a horrible idea. Matt thought of it, and all of Matt's ideas were terrible.

Firstly, due to the way the car was structured, you couldn't see in front of the car, or "Rover", so you couldn't see where you were going. This kept where Rover was taking you a surprise, and while Shiro wasn't the worst with surprises, he didn't like them when he was in something that might drive him off a bridge and into cold, cold, fishy water.

Ugh.

_Fish._

They were the worst part.

Secondly, the entire thing was sound - and generally vibration - proof, so Shiro couldn't hear anything (at least, from the outside). Not only that, he couldn't feel the gentle rumble a car makes when it's running, or the steady bump of the car as it travelled down the road, so he had no idea what speed it was going at. He didn't know if something disastrous happened, like, say, running over a pedestrian (it's not too farfetched - Rover _is_  a prototype, and while Katie made it, Shiro did think that she had bitten off a tinsy bit more than she could chew this time) (don't tell her that though; he could still remember what happened the last time he blatantly doubted Katie's technical prowess).

Thirdly, it took him to a police station.

Don't get him wrong, a police station would be fine, or at least, not awful, if he wanted to go to one. But he didn't, nooo, Shiro wanted to go home, but he's at a police station, and now the car won't let him in, and Katie would kill him if he just left it there ("What The Fuck, Shiro! Do you KNOW how much time the programming took?"), and he thought the car was supposed to already know where you wanted to go so maybe he did want to go to the police station for some unknown reason his mind doesn't know because Katie made Rover and Shiro is Shiro so into the building he goes.

The inside is cold, but warmer than it was the last time he was here (no no no, no more dank cells, or bloody walls, or agonizing screams, or mentally torturing himself every night because he wasn't quick enough to find a way out when he had a chance but he also isn't brave enough to die so he just keeps killing, and killing, and _killing_ ) so, that's a change. There's a woman at reception who looks like she'd rather be anywhere else but here, and a man sitting in the waiting area who seems almost dead on his feet, but other than that, the place is pleasant.

Shiro wanders over to the waiting area, as he doesn't even know what he's doing - stupid Rover - and just sits and looks around. After five minutes of waiting the woman is giving him an odd look that makes him eliminated the possibility of him going up to her and asking for help (what would he say anyway, "Hi, I'm Shiro, and can you help me, a dumb self driving car took me here and I have no idea what I'm here for, but Rover won't let me back in, and I'm really confused and flustered, and just being here brings up bad memories, but who cares about me, how's your day been so far?").

After ten minutes of waiting, the zombie guy has somehow managed to move to the furthest place to him in the room, perhaps to study the oddity, as Shiro is the only person to seem normal in the place, and the receptionist looks like she's about to call her colleagues and try to get him arrested, so he leaves. And Rover still won't let him in, so he decides to go to a beloved building nearby.

If anyone asked Shiro where his favourite place to eat was, he would say "Any place where Hunk is cooking." The Eastern Beauty was his second favourite place. It was a quaint little restaurant that sold different food from various Asian Countries and Cultures depending on the day, and was merely three blocks away from the police station. Due to the recent lack of staff at his workplace, he had to do overtime, meaning fewer hours spent dining at his second favourite eatery. He wanted to get there quickly - three weeks of avoiding the place took its toll, after all - and so travelled through multiple alleyways as a shortcut (Almond Jelly, I'm coming for you!). The alleyways smelt of piss and jizz, and Shiro hated taking them, but the faster the better, right.

Right!?

Probably, cause the only reason he saw the little cardboard box lying out of the way in the alley was because he walked through the pissy jizz that covered them. So, he guesses that maybe he owes the alleyway - or maybe Rover, or Pidge - for allowing him to find his son.

Keith, a petit five years old at the time, was sleeping - curled up tightly in a cardboard box that was just avoiding a pool of yellowy liquid and brown watery paste, looking too content for this place, in his shorts and fluffy shirt. Around his waist was a dog collar with, what he assumed was, his name on it. There was no blanket, no shoes, and, given that he was thinner than a baby chicken, no food. Yet, he looked perfectly at peace, perfectly calm, serene.

Maybe it was the fact he was sleeping. Maybe, when he woke up, he would cower at the thought of leaving, and cry, cry, cry, or maybe, he was a little spitfire, and wouldn't move without a fight. Maybe, he would be happy, and excited to leave (of which, Shiro hoped), or maybe anxious, tentative and wary, but sweet. Shiro knew one thing. The moment he saw Keith, lying cold in the pissy alleyway, Shiro was not going to leave that alleyway without him.

After all, anything beyond the alleyway had to be better than what Keith had been through, seeing as he was starving and sleeping in a box, right?

Hopefully.

Trying to be gentle and quiet, Shiro slowly bends down, picks up the boy, and cradles him in his arms, all gangly limbs and shallow features, and he just can't get over how light he is, because _five year olds are not supposed to be this light oh God_. Shiro pushes down his worry to focus on the task at hand, and searches the box for anything that seemed important. Nothing was found, and Shiro walked silently out of the alleyway.

Given that he was literally parked right in front of a police station, the most obvious option would be to take Keith inside, but Shiro doesn't. Instead, he climbs into Rover - who will finally open the door for him, thank Jesus - who immediately starts up, and before he knows it, he's at a new place.

Oh.

So _now_ Rover takes him home.

Unlocking his front door with only a few fingers was a struggle, but he managed, and the inside of his house was dark and quiet. The first thing Shiro does is bathe Keith, and, in doing so, sees the full extent of starvation. Sees thin skin stretched over weak bones, ribs visible through his chest, and sharp, overgrown, feeble nails. Sees flaky skin, sunken eyes, deflated cheeks. Sees yellow teeth, pale lips, and oily hair, and, for the first time since he glimpsed Keith, Shiro dares to lose hope and thinks, _oh God this boy could be dead._

But he isn't.

Shiro checks, and he can feel a heartbeat. A barely there, worrying heartbeat, but a heartbeat nonetheless. And God is he grateful.

Shiro cleans him, dresses him - in clothes that smother him, and not only because of his age - let's him rest for an hour or two, all while checking his heartbeat periodically, and then, only then, does he ask Keith to eat.

The meal is watery in texture and looks, and probably tastes as bad as it seems, but Shiro can't call Hunk over - he won't get here in time, and even though he can't cook, it's something, at least.

He wakes Keith gently, and though the boy reanimates, watching him do so is like watching a zombie rise from the ground, disoriented and confused. Turns out Keith can't eat by himself, so Shiro hand-feeds him small spoonfuls of the porridge; all Keith has to do is open his small mouth and chew, but even that proved difficult. Somehow, the bowl is finished.

After food is water, and after water Keith is out like a light, so Shiro carries him back to the bedroom, and tucks him in. He resolves to call Mr Holt, and get him to visit Keith tomorrow. Looking at food makes him feel worse, so he goes to bed with an empty stomach. He's too tired to take a bath, so he goes to bed sweaty and unpleasant. Sleep alludes him, so he spends the night lying in bed and staring at the ceiling. That's probably the only reason he picks up the phone.

Katie calls him at 3 am, without a, 'Hi, how's your night?', or a, 'Sorry for disrupting your sleep, but…' (yeah, Shiro wasn't sleeping, but he could have been, she didn't know) (then again, she could have installed cameras in his room - she's done it before). She just asks "How was Rover?"

"Oh wow, hello to you to Katie." Shiro rolls his eyes; she does this every single time (she probably did install that camera). "Rover was fine."

"Just fine? Come on, Shiro, I need more details." She whines.

"I don't really know what to say. Um, I guess the fact I couldn't feel or hear anything that was outside the car kinda freaked me out, and Rover didn't go where I wanted him to."

"Well, where did you want to go?"

"Home, Katie. I wanted to go home. But Rover took me to a police station."

"Ah, what happened there?"

"How do you know something happened, maybe nothing happened, maybe I got my Almond Jelly and left."

"And maybe something did happen. So tell me, what was it?"

"…"

"...I'm waiting."

"…"

"Come on Shiro! Spill!"

"Fuck, fine, okay… I met someone."

"Hmm, who's the lucky lady?"

"That 'lucky lady' you're talking about is a five year old boy named Keith I met in an alleyway."

"Oh."

"Yeah"

"He okay?"

"Seems so. He seems malnourished and starved."

"How is - how is being malnourished and starved okay?"

"I meant, for the time being."

"…"

"Katie, I don't know what to do."

"Take him to the hospital, obviously."

"You know I can't afford the bill."

"So?"

"…Well, what about after that? I can't take care of him, I can barely take care of myself."

"Shiro, pipe down. You'll, no, we - we'll figure it out. It just takes time."

"I need to ask something of you, Shiro." Throughout the whole conversation before this, she had a slightly bubbly, detached, tone to her voice, like it wasn't happening to her, so it wasn't real. But, now, her voice became oddly serious, hardened, and abrasive.

"Shoot."

"Don't leave Keith. You don't have to be his parent, or take care of him, but don't you dare leave him."

"Why? He probably doesn't want me around; I just found him by chance."

"No you didn't."

"What?" Shiro could tell she almost face palmed.

"You didn't find him by chance. Shiro, Rover wasn't built to take you where you wanted to go, he was built to take you where you needed to be, that's why he took so long to program."

"Shiro, you were meant to find Keith. I don't know why, or how, just that this is what needed to happen. Think about it, what would have happened if you didn't go and get him?"

"He would have died, that's what? He would have laid there, in a dirty alleyway, for God knows how long, until the cold and the malnutrition and the starvation kicks in and he perished. But he didn't, Keith didn't die, because you found him. Most people around here would leave a dying kid to rot on a street, but you didn't. You saved him. And something tells me that's not how your relationship with Keith is supposed to end."

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: A highly advanced self driving car takes you where you need to be. It takes you to the police station.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and tell me of you like it. It was written in a day, and edited over another, so I don't think it's the best thing, but, at least it's something.
> 
> I'm bad at endings, and I'm bad at dialogue, and guess what? This fic has both of them! So sorry for my incompetence.
> 
> Thanks again!


End file.
